On Tuesday night, a tanker truck crashed into a parked car, causing a jet fuel leak and closing Interstate 80 between Rock Springs and Rawlins for several hours, authorities said.

“It was reportedly a tanker truck loaded with jet fuel that struck a parked vehicle and overturned, spilling the jet fuel all over the highway,” Jason Mower, spokesman for the Sweetwater County Sheriff’s Office, told Cowboy State Daily.

The collision occurred around 1:15 a.m. on Tuesday, he said.

Wamsutter Fire Chief Dusty Davis said a man was changing a tire on the shoulder of westbound I-80 and “for some reason” jumped into the back seat of his car just before the tanker truck crashed into him.

The car owner refused medical attention, but the tanker truck driver was flown to Casper by rescue helicopter, Davis said.

The tanker was believed to have been carrying 10,000 gallons of jet fuel, but emergency crews on the scene were able to plug the leaks and use leak-stopping material to limit the spill to less than 2,000 gallons, Davis said.

Kerosene is flammable and much of the spill is “close to the roadway,” he said, adding that authorities had closed the highway until about 8 a.m. to clean up the fluid and “ensure everyone’s safety while we deal with it.”

Davis said a hazardous materials disposal crew is working to clean up the remaining fuel. There are no navigable waterways near the accident site, he added.

All westbound lanes closed

The Wyoming Highway Patrol is the primary agency responsible for the case, Mower said.

Neither WHP spokesman Shawncey Day nor the Carbon County Police Department could be reached for comment Wednesday.

Carbon County Sheriff Alex Bakken said his office played a limited role, helping to close the highway outside of Rawlins. He confirmed that no water sources or critical infrastructure were threatened. He added that the Wyoming Department of Environmental Quality was notified of the spill Wednesday morning.

A screenshot of the Wyoming Department of Transportation map taken at 5:55 a.m. reads: “All westbound lanes closed at Wamsutter at mile marker 180. Prepare to stop, expect delays.”

An Ohio woman wrote on Facebook Wednesday morning that she had been stuck on the “closed” I-80 for two hours and that authorities were asking people to exit the interstate and head back east to a rest area. The woman did not immediately respond to requests for comment.

Claire McFarland can be reached at [email protected].